Loss led to memorable trip
American Legion baseball created and formed some of the greatest relationships I have ever had.
The team I played on that stands out the most was Maxwell House Restaurant. We were student-athletes at North Central High School, playing ball for Scott Harmon.
During the summer we would get our instructions from Coach Harmon on what to improve on and go to it during summer ball.
The team was compiled of enormous talent. I can still remember the lineup card being tacked to the dugout. It typically read: pitcher, Jared Starr; catcher, Aaron Farr; first base, Matt Schwarzer; second base, Chris “Chet W.” Blotsky; third base, Andy Grigsby; shortstop, Patrick “Peaches” Moore; left field, Matt “Sweetness” Bernards; center field, Ray Bowser; and right field, Mike Caballero. Nick Froschiser, Damion “Coach” Johnson and Nat “Campsite” Sampson were a dominant force on the team as well.
We ended our season winning our division and were forced into a playoff to see who would be the No. 1 seed heading into the state tournament. After being beaten, badly, we went into the tournament as No. 2.
As we began winning and moving through the tournament we began to lose key players. Blotsky went to Pennsylvania for a basketball camp, Bernards and Sampson left for a leadership conference at Mount Rainer. As we lost our depth in the bullpen and key position players we were sunk.
I still communicate with many of my former teammates and the summer of 1996 often becomes a conversation piece. We often wonder if our team could have gone the distance and raised the state trophy as the best Legion team in Washington.
We will never know but we can always reminisce about the glory days.
One particular memory that sticks out occurred on a blistering hot July afternoon.
Andy Grigsby’s dad, Clyde, had just restored Andy’s ’77 Chevy Nova. It was a deep midnight blue with black interior. The car was beautiful. Andy had just picked Damion and I up for a game in Colville. Damion was sitting in the back seat while Andy drove and I rode shotgun.
We were taking a left turn at Northwest Boulevard and Maple when suddenly a Lincoln Town Car swerved from the far right-hand lane attempting to enter the Safeway parking lot. Andy T-boned the car, sending my spaghetti and meatballs all over the dashboard and windshield. Damion’s sandwich landed partially in my hair, the front seat and all over the back seat. Damion and I looked at each other as if to say, “Andy is going to kill us.” As Andy drove into the Safeway parking lot to comb over the damage, Damion and I scrambled to clean up our mess.
Damion’s mom, Ruth, saved the day by bringing us their Chevrolet Celebrity. We quickly transferred our gear from Andy’s car to Damion’s. We drove to Colville, watching Andy’s face turn from neon red back to normal. When we finally reached Colville we got out of the car and went to the hatch waiting for Damion to unlock it. As he joined us I asked, “Are you going to open it?” Damion searched his pockets and found nothing. He then walked to the driver’s side window and saw the keys still left in the ignition.
Meanwhile, game time was in less than 30 minutes and the starting pitcher, shortstop, and courtesy runner had no glove or cleats to play in. Thanks to a coat hanger, after about 45 minutes we were in.
Needless to say Maxwell House Restaurant performed miserably. Too many of us were too traumatized by car wrecks and lockouts. We were 10 runned in five innings and left sulking in defeat. Andy’s dad came to the game and took Andy home with him. This left the ride home up to Damion and me.
As we drove to the main road in Colville I said, “Let’s go to Canada.” Damion said, “Sure.” So we were off heading to Canada after being destroyed by Colville. As we approached the border crossing I started to get nervous. I was beginning to think about what my parents would do to me if for some reason we were to get busted.
Damion, being Mr. Cool, let the guy know we were playing ball in Colville and decided to go international. They looked at us oddly and let us in. We were ecstatic! We drove about 5 minutes into Canada, got out, went to the bathroom on the side of the road and pulled a u-turn heading back to the good ’ol USA.
This border crossing was more intimidating than the previous one 7 minutes ago. When they finally let us explain ourselves they let us through. We drove home laughing about our trip and how much fun we had.
Before I wrote this article I asked my mom, Debbie, if I had ever told her about that day. She said, “No, how many other life-threatening incidents and road trips have you not told me about?”
I smiled and said, “If you only knew.”